FIGHTING FATE, PART 2

The whirl of engines heating up could be heard in the background. Over the headset, a voice spoke: "Fueling complete. Commencing with countdown. Five, four, three..." The rest was lost in the engines' firing.

From the observation deck of the cruiser, a tall, burly man stood beside a shorter one. They both watched the launch in silence. When the flames of the engines had disappeared into the darkness of space, becoming just points in the infinite expanse, the larger man said to the other, smiling, "Congratulations, doctor. It's underway."

The other grinned maliciously. "Just wait till they reach Earth."

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"Sir! Unidentified objects on long range scanners!"

"What?!"

"They're moving in fast, sir!" There was a pause. The operator swiveled in his chair and tilted a quizzical face up to his commanding officer. "What should we do?"

Without hesitation, the officer replied, "Get me the president."

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The man in the finely tailored suit talking on the phone had gone red in the face.

"How many?"

Silence.

"When?" His expression changed to one of dread. "I see."

He was silent again, staring out the window of his office. After a moment he nodded absently and hung up the phone. Sighing, the man turned to his assistant, but said nothing.

The assistant stepped forward and asked hesitantly, "Mr. President?"

That seemed to pull him back to reality... unfortunately. He looked right at the attendant and said bleakly, "Get me the Cinq Kingdom."

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The warning sirens that hadn't been heard in over a century blared over the peaceful Mediterranean capital of the Cinq Kingdom. People scattered and the volunteer corps of citizens that was still kept in case of natural emergencies and such, tried to control the crowds.

From his palace window, the ruler of the kingdom peered out over his beautiful city. "Have the children been evacuated?" he asked calmly, his slightly gruff voice flat.

"Yes, Your Highness," was the reply from behind him.

"And the hospitals?" he asked again.

"Yes, sire."

"And - "

"You Highness, we are doing all we can. Please, it is time you left as well."

An arm reached out to the king, but he said strongly, "No." The arm stopped.

"But, sir - "

"I will not leave until everyone else has. It is my duty as their ruler."

"Sir," the voice was now quieter, more patient "They will be here shortly. We have no defenses. We can not possibly - "

"It is a risk I must take. You, on the other hand," he finally turned around, "must go."

"I... I can not," he stammered.

"Vincent, you have been loyal to me since before I can remember." The king's expression softened. He even smiled a little. "Vincent... Thank you."

Vincent bowed slightly, "Your Highness."

Their conversation was interrupted by a violent knock at the door. A uniformed woman quickly stepped inside.

"Sir!" she saluted awkwardly.

The king ignored her uneasiness and asked gravely, "How long?"

"Sir! Five minutes, sir!" Then she disappeared as abruptly as she had come.

Vincent turned to his ruler. "At least, move to one of the lower levels, sir."

"I prefer to watch from here."

The desperation now began to show in his voice. "Please, Milliardo. Please come."

Vincent hardly called him by his first name. At least, not since he had inherited the throne. Milliardo knew he was upsetting his closest and most trusted advisor.

"I know that you are worried for me," the king replied, mindful of the other's feelings, "but if I must watch my kingdom be destroyed, then I must stay here." It was his favourite room in the entire palace - the library.

"Then I will stay with you."

Milliardo tried to smile, but the sirens brought his attention back to the city.

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"Hold your ground! Hold your ground!" bellowed the commanding officer at the first line. But he knew it was useless. Even if these unprepared volunteers did stay, they'd most likely all be dead before they realized that it had started. The officer knew very well that he would be among their numbers when their bodies were counted later, but he would defend the kingdom he loved, even if it cost him his life.

Shouts went up from the crowd armed with relic weapons. "I see one!" "Where?" "They're coming!"

Some were panicking, but most stood tall. They felt the same as the officer in charge.

The commander looked up into the sky again, raising a hand to shade his eyes from the sun. When he spotted the three tiny dots among the blue and white, he radioed to the hastily formed command center. "They're here."

Four seconds later, the ground he had been standing on was a scorching inferno.

Most people had already been evacuated, but it was a big city. The remaining citizens ran for shelter when they saw the suits coming. They had read the history books. They knew what just one mobile suit could do - let alone three. They're action were futile, however. The materials of their buildings seemed to burn quite well.

The red suit appeared to lead. It flew low to the ground, demolishing buildings with a single blast from its main rifle. The other two concentrated more around the edges of the city, the green suit using an energy saber, and blue using shear firepower from its many armaments.

From his view atop the hill over looking the capital, Milliardo Yuy Dorlian watched in horror as his kingdom crumbled. His face, however, showed no trace of emotion. "They're too organized," he whispered, more to himself than Vincent. "I think that red one is in command." He turned to face his advisor. "Is there any chance at striking back?" He already knew the answer, but continued with his reasoning. "If we could take down the leader, then the other two..." he trailed off when Vincent shook his head. "Damn," he muttered, and returned to the window.

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"Beta, this is Alpha, over."

"Beta here."

"Destroy all roads going to or from the city."

"Understood."

"Gamma, this is Alpha, over."

"Gamma here."

"Remove the counter-attacking forces gathered at the harbor."

"Roger."

The monotonous tones of the mobile suit pilots could be heard over the radio in the command center. The "commander-in-chief" stood by helplessly, listening to who would be next to die.

"They'll be coming here soon," he said to no one in particular.

"But why, sir?" said a pale youth, no more than twenty years of age, who had stepped forward. "What did we do?"

The commander stood there, staring at the young man. "Nothing."

"But -?" he began to ask again, but was interrupted.

"Because we are a symbol of peace. And to people like those who are piloting those suits, that means we stand in their way." There was a bitter tone to his voice.

"In the way of what? There's nothing to stand in the way of! There hasn't been a need for war in-"

"In over a hundred years, yes, I know. But eventually, no matter what, there is going to be someone who wants things differently, wants things their way, and it doesn't matter who gets hurt in the process."

The youth didn't say more. He just stood there, looking at the ground. Around them, the building shook with the force of a nearby blast.

"Evacuate those remaining," commanded the chief. "I will not have us just sit here and wait to die."

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The green and blue suits had finished with their missions and were now sweeping towards the palace. The red one was already on its way.

Milliardo did not flinch when he saw their change in course. He knew he would have had to face this sooner or later. Beside him stood Vincent, noticeably scared, but also trying very hard not to show it.

"This is their last objective," the king said. "When the palace is destroyed, they will leave. Then the remaining citizens will be safe." Then he added, thinking to himself, 'at least, that's what I hope.'

The three suits joined up at the base of the hill on which the palace stood. The blue suit began to move, but stopped suddenly. The king could not tell what was happening, but inside the cockpits...

"Beta, this is Alpha. Stop."

"The mission statement says that the palace must be destroyed."

"We are already behind schedule. You and Delta proceed to the next mission. I will finish the target here."

"Roger that," replied Beta and Gamma in unison.

From Milliardo's viewpoint, it seemed as if for a moment that they would be spared. His hopes vanished, however, when the red suit remain as the others left. It ignited its engines and glided effortlessly up to the top of the hill. Milliardo looked down on the huge machine.

"I've read about them and I've seen pictures," he said, "but I never imagined they were so horrible."

"We've been lucky," said Vincent, his voice shaking. "We live in a peaceful world."

"At least," added Milliardo, "we did."

The suit was lifting its main rifle.

Milliardo closed his eyes and waited.

Nothing happened.

He opened them again.

The suit has stopped, frozen. Its rifle was pointed directly at the library window.

'Why hasn't he fired?' he thought.

Two minutes later, and the suit still hadn't moved. Milliardo asked Vincent to find out what was going on, but as the advisor was opening the door to leave, someone from the other side pushed it open.

"Sir," said a skinny, rather pale man, "we have a situation."


TO BE CONTINUED....